Police seek help with '87 killing

Police seek help with '87 killing

photo courtesy of Marana Police, The victim was dumped in a culvert under the Interstate 10 frontage road in north Marana. She had been shot numerous times in the torso and once in the head.

Police seek help with '87 killing

Randy Metcalf/The Explorer, Tom Mooney, Marana police crime scene analysis, first became interested in the 1987 cold case after finding the case file and photos stashed in the corner of an office. The department has had a facial reconstruction performed using the woman's skull.

Police seek help with '87 killing

The FBI made this facial, reconstruction of the 1987 homicide victim known now as Jane Doe No. 19.

A year ago, Mooney found himself searching through old case
files and evidence boxes.

"In late 2009, I was in a part of the building I don't usually
work in," Mooney said. He found a file box sitting in a corner of
the room with a stack of crime scene photos and some case details
inside. The photos of the murdered young woman sparked his interest
in solving the case. He began to search the Internet to find what
resources were available to assist him in reopening the case.

One thing he found was that the FBI would make a facial
reconstruction from the woman's skull. But her remains had to be
exhumed.

After getting permission from Marana Police Chief Terry
Tometich, Mooney went though the process of locating the
unidentified woman's gravesite. She was found at Evergreen Cemetery
in Tucson. Mooney worked with cemetery officials to dig up the
woman's remains from the top level of a grave that holds the bodies
of three people. Indigent and unidentified people sometimes are
buried three deep in public cemeteries.

The remains were taken to the Pima County Medical Examiner's
Office, where a DNA sample was taken and her skull prepared to be
sent to an FBI laboratory in Virginia. No matches were found in DNA
analysis.

With the facial reconstruction now complete, Marana police now
hope the image would trigger the memory of someone who may have
known the woman who has been identified only as Jane Doe No.
19.

"Basically, we've gone as far as we can go without more
information," said Det. Jose Alvarez. "We just need someone to come
forward."

Alvarez said the case file shows that his predecessors
identified a few potential people of interest, but they were
quickly ruled out.

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Tucson Local Media photographer J.D. Fitzgerald, right, shoots a simulation gun in reaction to a situation during a training put on by the Pima County Sheriff’sDepartment. PCSD invited members of the media to their training center on South Rita Road to further their understanding of use of force protocols. Mediamembers were given a 90-minute lesson on the policies, ethics and laws regarding use of force. To read the full story and to watch the video, visit www.tucsonlocalmedia.com.